Automobile body



.Sept 25, 1928.

W. H. ATKINSON AUTOMOBILE BODY Filed April 29, 19.26 2 sheets-sheet 2 MVG/TOR www Patented Sept. 25, 1928.

UNITEDFSrr vWILLIAM n. ATKINSON, OF WASHINGTON, nIsTRioToF eOnUMBIA.

AUTOMOBILE BODY.

Application 'med yApvrn 2e,

present types of doors operate 'very inconven-l iently as forinstance when the machines are:

parked close together when backed or headed to thevcurb.. f f Other objects and advantages of my inven-v tion will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In thev accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and 1u which like figures are used to designate like parte throughout lthe same, Figure 1 is a perspec- 4' Vtiveview of my invention applied to an automobile having a touring body; Figure 2 is a view showing a door built in accordance with my invention partially opened' both ways ;l `Figure Sis a side elevation ofa ycoach body both thedoorll' .and theframe- 13 ajar.- It

should'be' iuiderstoodzhowever,v that such is f equipped lwithjmy invention, and Figure L1 is a fragmentary planfview of the door shown-in Figure 3. Figure 5 `is amodiication of my invention showing Va sliding door adapted thereto'. -Y- Figures- 6 and7 show respectively a top and bottom guide for thel door of Fig- I1I'e5 Y 1 y Y vI nthe drawing, 1() indicates the-body of an automobile having t-he' usual entrance openings 11,to .the seats, which Iliave designated by the'numeral 1 2. Supportedwithin the openings 11, and hinged1to one side'ftheieofis. a. frame 13.l r I his frame 13 is adapted to swing uponhinges 14 and is providedwith a latch 15, upon its opposite edge which engages thej amb ofthe opening'll for preventing it fromy swinging freely upon the. hinges-14, The frame 13 carries a second set ofhinges 16 upon which aj doorv 17 swings.. The door- 17 isalso provided with aflateh 1 8 adapted toengage the jamb of frame landamaintainit locked thereinj .j {Referring more particularlyito Figs; 1 and 2 itI will be y.seen that. my invention provides adoorfor automobiles whiclnis capable of be-j ving opened from substantiallyeither edge de- 192e., 'serial Nar-105,483.

pending uponthe convenience oftheioperav tor'-. This arrangement is particularly'oonvement when the automobileis standing along side of another machine as when parked head-on yor backedto-the curb. Under theseV i conditions the automobiles are usually parked so close toveach other that the operatorhas d iiiiculty in reaching the door and it frequently happens underthese conditions. that the doortobeentered is hinged uponthe edge nearest the approaching operator; In lthisV eventhe isrequired to vpass the door before rrlcE.

opening lit and where several; persons are about to enterthe car the door has to be closed after each entrancein order to permit the next .party to get in a vconvenient position to again open the door and enter. JWhen a machine is lequipped with my invention the;

above iobjectionable features are overcome by l operatin'gthe llatch nearest the approaching operator thus opening the -door upon vthe hinges-located atsubstautiallythe far edge of the door. This permits a directentrance to the seatsthrough whichfanyfnumber of persons canmthen'continue to enter the car without` 'maneuvering about the swinging door asdescribed. 1

In Iigf,l Quofthe drawings,v I have shown notanormal operation of thedoor. This view, is only so shown, to better illustrate the ,relativevpositions ofthegparts.; In fac-t it is conceived that the latches 15 yand 18 may be provided with anffinterlocking mechanism .which will-prevent' the'opening o f both the :doorg17 and the frame lyatthesame time!` I Referring now to Figs. -3 and 41, the modifiandtheframe 13 is shownasinverte'd, The 13in Figs. 1 and 2 is'shown of: Ushape `so that 4 no overhead .obstruction/will be present and in Figs. 3 and 4 this Ushaped frame is need not beof U shape.'v It canbe a complete sie cation here shown is `applied ytoavcoafchbody construction would provide a lmore rigid v 'structuite. Y1-

i The Vfram ivi-ith. its r'ear vertical. member 19 `slightly largerthan its' Vfront Verticalmember 20. Thisdifferencein the vertical members'of theframe 13 can be varied to meet any department.

sired conditions. The hinges of the door 17 can be located on a line with the back of the front seats 12 lif desired, for the .door 17 will only be used to gain entrance to the front com- It will be evident that the modi? fication shown in this ligure of the drawing, while possessing the features of the modiiication shown inFigs. 1 and 2 also provides the following additional advantages:

Itis the practice at thev present time to provide a single door on each side of the bodies 'oif automobiles,"commonly knownras coaches.

These doors of necessity are made larger than ordinary doors so as to permit easy access and exit hom bothvlthev `front and rear compartments off the coach. Such a' door when fully open extends out from-the car a considerable distanceand as a result ljeauses great inconvenienceand when opened upon a driveway lis-in danger of being struck by afpassfing automobile. l,It is also likely tostrike .Y .f trees and poles when opened unless particuopening thefdoor to its fullest extent.

lar care'istaken in parking the' car at a point )Where no obstruction is present.` As sug` gested above vwhen a vdoor ofthe present type is used it must b'e fully opened to permit easy access to or eXitfroniv at least one of the compartments of `the coach. v When a door built 'inaccordance with my "invention is applied to a coach body and located with .respect to .Y lthe front compartment the forward latcliis operated, thus providing an equally convenient entrance. x f

When `an automobile havingr a coach body is parked end on against the' curb the objec- -tionablefeatures referred to above are considerablyaggravated by reason of the larger l doors. whichare usedgon coaches. Under theseconditions; it is frequently a' difficult mattertoget int'the coach without'having to chrnb` over the front seat. For example.

'assumethat' the coach door is hinged upon its forwardedge and thatA the doondue tointerference, can only be opened about 30 degrees or approximate y :shown: in Fig". 4J With the door inl this posito the'zposition of thedoor tion and entrance to. be had to the front compnitment, it will be seen 'that ytheV operator i will have to climb ov'ei"` the fontseat in order to get in toQa'sealed position,` whereasywith a `dolor'o. the type proposed by my invention the door canjbe opened upon its rear hinges I and thus an, easysentrance is effected.

u 1 Referring new@ Figs. 5, 6 and 7; in which `I have shown amodification :of my invention,

Y the door 17 is arranged to slide upon a suitable support 20 which is capable of permitting the door to move at least halfits width in either direction. This modification will eliminate the objection of the swinging `feature of the door as recited ahovegand by reason of its movement in both directions it per- 'mits the use of a single sliding` door and will permit easy access to either the iront or rear n compartments of the coach.

The support 20, in its `preferred form, will supportthe door at'its lower end and "af suitable guide 21 will be provided at the top,

thisguide being so arrangedqthagt the 'doorwhen closed will'not project out beyond the limits of the coach body so as to distract from its natural lines. Inl order to accomplish thisthe support 2() and theguide 121-are` provided with curved runways 22 respecti vely shownin Figs. 6 and 7 of the draw:v ings, 'and the door 17 is providedwith two projecting! members orV rollers 2li' near its so v lower corners lwhich engage therunway 22'. l

The top of thedoor carries a third projecting; member or roller 25 which Yenggfages the run- Vway 23 of the' guide member 21. This will .permit the outer surface of the door to be moved into line with thejouter surface of the body when closed.

In order to open a door mounted inacc-ordance with thismoditication 'of 'niy'inventi'om the operator will grasp either handle 15 or 18 dependingF upon which point of the niaich'ine he wishes to enten' and,'after releasing the latch he will pull the door outwardly yso as to clearthe body and then slide the door 'i as is customary. This voutward movement of thedoor ismade possible bythe shape of therunwaysv at points 26. While the operated klatch'will permit this outward movement the trailing or unoperate'd latch vvill'hold the other edge' of the door in and as the door is moved lengthwisejthe machine",y the trailing latch Will disengage, f thus v permitting the whole door by reason of the curved runways the outer surface' of thegmahine-body where it can loe-,freely moved. f

4In Vclosing-this type ofdoor the operator Y merely slides yit back'into placey and pushesit in until the operatedlatch catc'lzhes.y vDuringF the closing operation the unoperated latch will be moved in by reason of the curvedlcondition of the runway adjacent the portion 26 and will automatically engage'its cooperating 'catch without any part of the operator.

Having now described my. invention in's'ev-` eral modified forms, I desire to :have itunderstood that the same can be carriedout by'Y other means as yfor instance by providi-nr'fg` a double Y set of-hinges theipintles Lbe with-l additional attention on the drawn to permity the 'doorI to swingfreely on f v -ones'et of hinges. The set orhinges of which the pintlesI have been'withdraw'n' being' the 11107 22 and 23 to assume a position paralletwith whereby said doorway may be openedlrom upon the jamb from which substantially either jamb tol permit access to said seat or to the rear of said seat depending said doorway is opened. Y y

2. A motor Vehicle body having av substan-V tially closed compartment, a door for said compartment comprising an inner and outer member adapted to open from substantially either j amb, and front and rear seats arranged within said compartment so that access to said front or rear seats is determined by the jamb from which said door is opened.

3. A motor vehicle body having doorway on either side, a door for'said doorway comprising an inner and an outer'member, means cooperating with the members ot' said door, whereby said doorway may be opened from substantially either jamb, and a seat arranged within said body adjacent said doorway so that access to said seat is obtained when the doorway is opened from one jamb and access to the rear of said seat is obtained when the doorway is opened at its other j amb.

4. A door for automobile `bodies comprising a singledoor element supported on the side a single door element adapted to permit it to be opened fromV substantially either jamb, said means being arranged to provide a minimum of ini ter'l'erence with access to the front or to thel rear of said seat as determined by the jamb trom which said door is opened.

5.In an automobile body-the combination of, a doorway insaid body, a door for said doorwa latching and hinging means on substantial y eachiamb of'said doorway, a seat within vsaid body. between the ambs of said doorway, and ymeans for supporting and co-v operating with said, door whereby it can be opened from substantially either jamb of said doorway, to permit access to said seat or to the rear of said seat. j

6. In an automobile body the combination of, a doorway in said body, a support hinged to one jambv of the doorway andlatched at the other jamb, a door hinged to the latched Y part oi" said support and latched to the hinged part of the support, and a seat arranged within said body adjacent the doorway so that entry to said body on either side of said seat is determined by the manner in which the doorway is opened.

7. A motor vehicle bodyhaving a substantially closed front andrear passenger com,

from either jamb to permit access to `said front or rear compartment depending upon ypartment, a doorway in said body, a door eX- tending adj acent both of said compartmentsl and means wherebysaid door may beopened` the jamb from which said Vdoorway is opened. 'Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 26th day of April 1926.4 i

WM. H. ATKINSON. i 

